Grainne Conole & Ricardo Torres Kompen at the PLEConf, the chemistry between us

As was mentioned in a previous post, one of the basic features of “the PLE Conference spirit” has been that the organizing committee has tried to organize not only an academic event, but also a different event of thought sharing; and to do it we have tried to include participants, as much as possible, in the crucial decision taking process. Consequently, one of the novelties In this PLE Conference 2012 (there are many) has been the election of the second day UNkeynoters by participants. And after that, we are very happy, not only because of the election, that is fantastic, but because Grainne and Ricardo have said yes and are coming to join us in Aveiro.

From the “formal” perspective we have to say that Grainne Conole is Professor of Learning Innovation and Director of the Beyond Distance Research Alliance at the University of Leicester. But more than this, Grainne is one of the most interesting people working in the world of educational technology from the pedagogical point of view. In her research and publications she combines perfectly a strong pedagogical base, incredible hard thinking about education and learning from a challenging perspective of the role of technologies In this field. She has led and participated in amazing work groups –different projects and institutions- about educational technology, but always with this robust pedagogical interest.

As for Ricardo Torres Kompen, he is a researcher in the field of technology enhanced learning and multimedia. his perspective on personal learning environments is evidently pedagogical, but what i love most is that his work all these years has been really close to real teachers in training programs related to the use of Web 2.0 from the perspective of PLEs for teaching and learning. Ricardo is one of those responsible for the PLEConf adventure, and is also an interesting partner in any challenging project about education and technology that you may want to start.

Moreover, Grainne and Ricardo have many other things in common. They are passionate about their jobs, they are good conversationalist and lovely companions wherever they are; they both speak Spanish and English, they love good food, good people and interesting conversation. In addition, their “original” professional background is in chemistry, so probably is because of that –the chemistry between them and the world around them-, and also because I appreciate them so much personally and professionally, i think they are going to make an impressive UNKeynote with all of us.

It will be a pleasure to be a part of it, and i hope you all enjoy it too.